


when the party's over.

by simigang



Series: sim in quarantine! [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, Mark has a girlfriend, Meet-Cute, Party, Unrequited Love, jisung is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24279169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/simigang/pseuds/simigang
Summary: luck is not on his side when haechan, quite literally, runs into jeno at a party.surprisingly enough, he still manages to have a good time.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Lee Jeno
Series: sim in quarantine! [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676638
Comments: 5
Kudos: 34





	when the party's over.

**Author's Note:**

> my first nohyuck fic n ofc it's about a party. it's like: have u ever liked someone A LOT u just met for no reason?  
> this story has that feeling.  
> based on billie's [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6WNdcZpDhQ) !  
> this headcannon is like months old n i went back n finished,, hope y'all like this <3

_ Call me friend but keep me closer (call me back) _

_ And I'll call you when the party's over _

_ - _

The first thing Haechan noticed in the living room’s shitty light was that his shoes were dirty. Yes, his white vans he had been trying tirelessly to keep spotless—going as far to push clumsy Jisung out of his vicinity at every opportunity—had a huge brown smudge at the top of his foot. 

“Hey,” 

He knew he wasn’t crazy when he felt someone step on his foot. It was probably the girl attached to Mark’s arm, dragging him and showing him off around the kitchen when Haechan was trying to get a drink. 

All he wanted was a water bottle but what he gets is a ruined pair of vans. Truly, a cruel world he lives in. 

“Dude, hey.” He feels a disruptive shake on his shoulder that makes him want to flinch out of his skin. He doesn’t show it though. Instead, he nods his head in greeting, “Sorry. What’s up?” 

“No worries. So, Hyeon,” she makes herself known by a lip-tint covered smile and a wave while she’s attached to Mark’s side. They’re practically conjoined like legos, “and I are going upstairs with a bunch of other people. They're gonna play some games or something. Right?” He looks to the girl next to him to confirm. She agrees and looks super excited just to sit in a circle with a bunch of strangers. 

Hae knew what Mark’s next question was. He didn’t even have to say it.  _ Do you want to come with?  _ “I’m good. You guys have fun.” 

“Alright.” They left hand in hand. Something that shouldn’t phase a normal bystander or party-goer who was minding their business having fun. But Haechan couldn’t focus on anything else apart from it. His best friend holding another girl’s hand. Mark’s never paying him attention, so why should it matter now?

Everything sucks and nothing fucking matters anymore. He should go. Why did he even come here to begin with? It was dumb of him—tagging along with Mark and his soon to be girlfriend as a third wheel—thinking he could somehow have a good time. But parties are just superficial fun with their drinks and distractions that he doesn’t let himself succumb to. 

  
  


Haechan doesn’t realize he’s moving until his body bumps into someone else. Even then, he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t feel like stopping. His feet are moving on their own, practically tripping over themselves, fueled by emotion. When a hand grabs his forearm, stopping him in his tracks, he twists around with daggers in his eyes pointed and ready to kill. 

“What the h—,” a stranger’s voice sounded poisonous and angered. Hae could barely see their face. It’s dark in this part— really every part—of the house and his eyes are teary. “Are you okay?” The boy in front of him looks like a blob of colors as his eyes continue to water. 

He let out a breathless laugh. What a dumb fucking question. 

“Does it look like I’m okay?” He asked mockingly. He wiped his eyes as the drops started to slip out. Instead of appearing upset, the boy looked concerned. He just stared at Haechan—waiting for him to explain— which pissed him off even more. They’re standing in the middle of the room having a stupid staring contest when he could’ve been out the door by now. Probably a mile away from the atmosphere of this party that made him nauseous. 

Someone awkwardly stepping in between them broke the silence. “Let’s go to the bathroom.” The random party guy pulled him back to his senses and started to lead him back into the house. Haechan stopped and snatched his arm back, cradling it to his chest. “What?  _ No _ . Why?”

The boy in front of him turns around to face Haechan. His formerly plain white shirt had a murderous stain of red seeping into the fabric. Staring at him with a deadpan expression, he says agitated, “I’m not trying to pull something, I swear. I could easily kick you out of my house right now, but I’m nice so I’m just making you clean my shirt.” 

His (fake) smile disappeared into his eyes as he continued forward. Hae followed him like a lost duckling as he tried to process this new information.  _ So this is his (shitty) party?  _ Once the boy bypassed one of the locked doors with some kind of master key—shouting a hello to the crowd of people that passed them by—Haechan hesitated at the door frame. 

“Hurry up!” And he catches the knob before it closes shut in his face. 

When he finally makes a turn to where he assumes the bathroom is, he almost walks right back out. “W-What are you doing?” He can’t help but ask as his gaze goes straight down to his ruined shoes. It’s a dumb question considering he already knows the answer. He just doesn’t know how to act considering how off guard he is. “What does it look like? I’m taking off my shirt you just ruined,” the blond boy responds back sharply. After that, Haechan decides he’s better off being quiet. The stranger is already upset and engaging in conversation would just make it worse. Everything was already bad. With Mark and Hyeon. With his stupid jealousy and feelings. But then he just had to run into a stranger, spilling their drink on them. 

  
  


As Haechan watches him wet his shirt, he finds himself sniffling every couple seconds as a result of leftover sadness in his system. He makes a strong effort to hold back his tears because it would be double the embarrassment to cry in front of this guy  _ twice.  _ Not even Mark has seen him cry that often. No matter how terrible his night is going, he still has his pride. 

  
  


The boy hands him wadded up toilet paper in one hand and his wet t-shirt in another. “Here” He pushes the items forward almost like a peace offering.

Stepping into the bathroom, he places the shirt down and wipes his nose. “Thanks…” Haechan pauses when he realizes he doesn’t even know his name. Standing in his shirtless, pale-skinned glory, the boy catches on. Somehow, he has great capability to read the room or has taken over Haechan’s thoughts. 

“Jeno. My name is Lee Jeno.” 

“Lee Haechan.”

“Well,  _ Haechan, _ I hope you know how to get fruit punch out of a shirt or you’re buying me a new one.” 

Jeez, no manners or gratitude at all. Fucking boys these days. 

“Well,  _ Jeno,  _ luckily I do. Do you have any vinegar or soap? Because running this under hot water won’t accomplish anything.”

“Yeah. I’ll look.” He exits the bathroom murmuring a  _ vinegar or soap _ mantra sounding two steps from insanity. “Wait,” Haechan says before he leaves. He turns around expectantly. His eyebrows perked up and eyes waiting. 

“Put a shirt on at least. No one wants to see,” he gestures with his free hand towards the boy’s torso “ _ that _ .” Haechan’s face grimaced at the sight. He shouldn’t be walking around shirtless after wearing a wet shirt. Haechan would have a guilty conscience if he made Jeno sick  _ and  _ fucked up his white shirt. He’s heartbroken not heartless.

“Yeah. Whatever.” Jeno walked away laughing as he found a black shirt, slightly wrinkled, in one of the drawers. As soon as he slammed the door shut, leaving the room, Haechan let out a sigh of relief.

_ What the fuck am I doing here?  _ He thought to himself. In a stranger’s bathroom, washing their clothes because he spilt (spiked) Fruit Punch on them (unintentionally) midst a mental breakdown. But, the stranger doesn’t seem like a total dick. He doesn’t seem as mad as Haechan thought he would be.  _ So that’s a plus right?  _ Haechan, above all things, was attempting to be positive. With his life falling apart, his heart in two, and now doing manual labor for strangers, his night couldn’t get any worse. 

  
  


Hae doesn’t want to get his hopes up.

  
  


Haechan looks up as he hears the door knob turning, “I didn’t know your preference, so I got both.” Jeno comes in with a bottle of vinegar and…hand soap. Hae tries not to laugh. He doesn’t want to make fun of him. “I meant like laundry detergent or even dish soap, but it’s okay.” 

“Oh.” 

Then it’s quiet. And everything feels like it echoes in the bathroom’s tiny space. Even while overthinking to himself, his thoughts feel so amplified. There’s no sound except for their breathing and the low vibration of dance music coming through the walls. 

“Sorry about your shirt.” Hae finally says. He doesn’t look up into the mirror because he knows he looks like shit. His eyes are probably already puffing and tinted red from exhaustion. It’ll kill his self confidence knowing good and well it took every bit of courage he had to speak up two seconds ago. Instead, he focuses on the pool of hot water in the sink and pouring vinegar on the red spot. 

“It’s fine. I have other white shirts.” Jeno replies nonchalantly. Haechan slows his movements, confused.

“Then why did you make it seem like such a big deal?”  _ A deal big enough to kick me out of your house?  _

Jeno is sitting unceremoniously on the bathroom’s counter top with his legs dangling off. He’s close to Haechan’s left. “I don’t know. I was curious.” 

_ Hm.  _ He keeps scrubbing to busy himself and occupy his mind. So, Jeno was curious about him? Dare he push it and say interested in him? Okay, that’s totally normal for…anyone. In the silence of the bathroom, Jeno’s legs are swinging back and forth as if it were an anxious habit. They hit the cabinets with an ungraceful  _ clacking _ sound that’s starting to irritate Haechan, but he knows it’s not his place to complain. 

“About what?” Haechan pauses, “I mean, what were you curious about? ” He tries to ask in a chill manner. The way someone would when they try to appear carefree. Haechan is anything but calm and uncaring…but Jeno doesn’t know that. 

“You were crying.”

Haechan pauses his movements and lets his hands soak in the hot water. He felt like he needed the warmth as his blood ran cold.  _ So he noticed?  _ Keeping his eyes fixated on the fading red, now pink, stain he asked Jeno, “Why did it matter? You don’t know me.” 

Hearing that, the blond boy on the counter laughed. His entire body moved forward as if it was some practical joke that Haechan said. Haechan was, apparently, the funniest person in the entire world and he just didn’t know. When he saw Haechan was serious—looking at him weird and confused—, the smile on his face faded. 

“Are you serious? You don't have to know someone to care about them.” Haechan could feel Jeno’s eyes staring at him, yet he kept his eyes fixated down. “That’s just human decency. I saw you looked…down,” he hesitated as if he didn’t know how to put it nicely, “and didn’t want you to go home with that mindset. It could be dangerous.” Jeno explained like it was simple. The simplest thing in the world. This situation is elementary-school-math level of simple and Haechan just isn't accustomed to people—strangers, if anything—caring for him. 

He didn’t know these type of people existed. Complete strangers you bump into and actually have the heart to make sure you’re okay. 

Maybe that’s just the type of person Lee Jeno is. 

  
  
  


Haechan started scrubbing again. “Thank you for that. It’s been a rough night.” He found the courage to meet his eyes. Haechan already knew he was looking at him but meeting his stare was an entirely different feeling. Jeno’s eyes were kind and void of any malicious intent. He even grinned watching Haechan’s hands hard at work. 

“It’s fine. Everyone has those days…” a beat of silence passed awkwardly as if Jeno was stuck debating his words, “and sorry for acting all rude when we first met…I just like that shirt.” 

_ It’s plain white? Can’t you buy these in mass quantities?  _ Hae asked to himself, not really understanding Jeno’s attachment. 

But he replied sympathetically, “No. It’s fine,” in complete understanding of Jeno’s behavior. It’s not as if he acted nice either. They were both at fault. After all of his hard work, the stain is stubborn. It seems like it’ll never fade and forever be a light pink mass ripping down Jeno’s torso. 

“What’s not fine is I think I fucked up your shirt forever.” Haechan holds up the drenched piece of clothing to show the boy next to him. It contrasts the all black attire Haechan wears, like night and day. “Sorry.” 

Jeno inspects it carefully, glancing back and forth between the shirt and Haechan’s face. His eyes are still swollen. He has dark circles, evidence to something deeper than the bad time he experienced tonight. Still, Jeno is wondering what Haechan was running from. 

“I’ll hang it out to dry.” He takes it from Haechan’s grasp. In doing so, his fingers brush over the other’s for a brief second. Haechan’s fingers are all dried and wrinkled due to the water sucking the moisture out of them. He reflexively jerks his hands back to his chest and down to his side as if Jeno were something forbidden. 

Jeno, realizing he stepped over some sort of invisible boundary between them, mumbles a curt apology before slipping out the bathroom to leave Hae with his thoughts.

He can’t begin to wrap his head around this the past hour. He just ruined and cleaned some…pretty boy’s shirt. Now what? Is he staying at the party? He doesn’t necessarily want to even after everything that’s happened. Even after meeting the kind light that is Lee Jeno. No offense to him or his terribly lit house, but the atmosphere sucks ass. And Haechan isn’t just saying that because Hyeon has been trying to get Mark to take her home at every opportunity. Maybe it’s his own fault for voluntarily coming to a  _ loud environment _ with a bunch of  _ random people _ when these are the last places he’d rather be. He misses Jisung’s big head even if he did almost ruin his new shoes. There’s no use in being mad at him when someone has taken the liberty to step on them instead. 

“Are you leaving?” A voice he now recognizes interrupts his internal discussion. It’s hesitant and small compared to the tone he first heard dripping with poison or a second after which was gentle and concerned. J _ esus, Lee Jeno, just who are you?  _ Haechan felt like there were so many sides to him. Maybe, he wasn’t just a party boy who has an obsession with his white t-shirt. Maybe, he could be kind and shy with all the emotions spanning in between. 

“I was planning on it, yeah.” Hae says honestly. He doesn’t want to be here a second longer than he has to…and nothing is really keeping him here. It’s all unfamiliar and he just rather be at home. In the comfortable spaces between his bed and the couch. Playing games and watching movies. 

It all sounds way better than a party.

“Want me to walk you home?” 

Haechan really thinks he’s crazy—both of them, if anything. Jeno for offering and he himself for wanting to say yes. He may not want anything to do with this party, but damn Lee Jeno and his pretty face. Haechan would be lying if he said a part of him  _ wasn’t _ interested. 

  
  


“Don’t you have a house to watch?” He couldn’t help but smile.  _ Why does he care so much about someone he doesn’t know?  _ Haechan has been thinking the same thought continuously since he met him. 

“My friend Renjun said he’ll make sure it doesn’t catch on fire. I already asked. We’re good to go.” He confirmed, leading the way out of the room, down the hallway, and towards the front door. Haechan follows wordlessly behind him until they’re at the front door. He doesn’t miss the way people call out Jeno’s name and ask where he’s going. Their attempts to get his attention go ignored as Jeno continues to focus on Haechan, pushing him first out the door.

“So, you just assumed I’d let you take me home?” 

Jeno nods sheepishly. Even though Hae would usually find that type of confidence obnoxious, he feels oddly content at the fact that Jeno wants to spend more time with him. Though, he doesn’t know why since he’s known him all of an hour. 

But he decided to care about a stranger—someone crying and the deemed ruiner of his favorite shirt—and it made Haechan feel uneasy. He could feel his mind forming an interest in Lee Jeno and he didn’t know how to handle it. With all the thoughts of tonight mixing together, between teary eyes and oblivious best friends, maybe someone like Lee Jeno would be a refreshing breath of air. 

  
  


Taking a chance and following Jeno down the porch, Haechan felt a chill go down his spine causing him to shiver with his hands in his pockets. Even through his long sleeve shirt, the night air was unforgiving. “You want my jacket?” Jeno glances to check on a shaking Haechan. He’s already taking it off, but the other boy shoves the item of clothing away. “I’m good, I’m good. I don’t live that far from here anyways.” Jeno is insistent, attempting to wrap Hae in his jacket whenever he talks with chattering teeth, but Haechan is even more so. He’s almost home and doesn’t need  _ even more _ Jeno related thoughts to cloud his mind. 

Jeno is a step behind Haechan as he leads the way towards his home. He notices Haechan’s miles more talkative compared to his standoffish front at the party. He doesn’t know what caused his sadness, but Jeno is just glad he feels better. 

“Oh! Hey, can we stop here real quick?” Jeno grabs Haechan’s forearm to steal his attention. He halts in his footsteps, in the middle of retelling a story about another party he got dragged to, when he follows Jeno’s line of sight. “A convenience store?” He asks, puzzled, as he lets himself be pulled inside. 

The store carries a weird vibe. With its fluorescent, flickering lights and lack of customers, it carries an atmosphere similar to a scary movie. It causes Haechan to stay close to Jeno who seems familiar with the layout of the store. He’s weaving between isles until he gets towards the back which is lined with freezers. “You want ice cream?” Haechan asks, taken aback. To him, it’s freezing outside and consuming something cold doesn’t make sense. He guesses Jeno must really like sweets. “Yeah, I just wanted some.” He answers back while grabbing two of those cookie ice cream sandwiches kids love eating. “I mean, what else do you eat when it’s midnight and you’re hungry?” Jeno jokes as he hands over the proper amount of cash to the clerk. They’re silent as they hand him back his change.

Haechan rocks back and forth to get his blood flowing as they step back into the cold. Jeno appears completely unaffected by the weather and Haechan finds himself growing envious. “I can think of a bunch of other things to eat right now.” He says in retaliation. “Ice cream is good, but not when it’s cold outside.” 

Jeno stops opening the package of his ice cream to give Haechan a blank expression, “I tried to give you my jacket. If you’re cold just take it.” He’s insisting and it’s almost hard to say no. He really doesn’t want to say no. It’s  _ fucking cold _ ! But something deep down is stopping him from accepting it. 

“No. I’m fine, Lee Jeno. Perfectly fine.” He laughs which makes Jeno sigh loudly. 

“You’re impossible Lee Haechan.” 

At that, he laughs even harder. 

In the middle of bites of vanilla ice cream and chocolate chips, Jeno is mostly silent while listening to Haechan talk about everything and nothing. He watches his face light up when they pass the neighborhood park. He sees his face frown at the sight of a specific person’s house.  _ “He’s a total dick. He bullied me in the third grade.”  _ Jeno holds back laughing after learning that. He didn’t know what to expect from Haechan, but he’s sent Jeno on a rollercoaster of thoughts. Hours of knowing him and he’s realized he’s a much deeper person than he initially expected. He holds in his emotions to the point he’s crying at parties. He’s witty and knows how to joke around. He laughs larger than life itself and has to clutch on to someone in order not to fall. He gets cold easily, but doesn’t know how to accept when someone is trying to help him.

It’s bad now Jeno finds himself wanting to know so much more. 

  
  
  


“Oh, this is my place.” They’re in front of an apartment complex with multiple units. Jeno is about to suggest he can walk him all the way home, up to the exact apartment, but he figures that’s  _ too _ forward. At this point, they still could be considered strangers, so he doesn’t want to push his luck. Haechan turns to him with his hands still deep in his pants pockets, “I don’t know why you felt the need to walk me all the way here, I mean it’s pretty far,” he hesitates before speaking again, “but thank you.” 

Jeno is reaching into his jacket pocket and commands, “Hold out your hand.” Haechan is confused, but figures he’s not in danger. If Jeno wanted to kill him, or do anything remotely dangerous, he probably would’ve done it already. So he does what he’s told and offers his hand. 

The other boy peers into his eyes, amused, for a couple seconds before turning Haechan’s hand so his palm is facing up. “Since you won’t take my jacket.” Jeno simply explains before placing a half melted, cookie ice cream sandwich into Haechan’s grasp. Jeno’s hands are enclosed around his to force Haechan to hold onto it tightly. “Promise me no more crying… for whatever reason you were. Okay?” Once Haechan nodded quietly, he removed his hands from Hae’s. The night air feeling colder against them compared to a mere second ago.

Being face to face with Jeno brings to surface all the emotions he was trying to ignore for the past two hours. It’s all in his eyes. With the way they scrunch up when Jeno smiles and linger a bit too long to reveal something he’s trying to hide. Just for that brief moment in time, in his apartment’s parking lot, Haechan lets himself be honest. Jeno makes him want to be honest.

“Okay. Whatever you say, Lee Jeno.” He can’t wipe the smile off his face. “But I told you it’s too cold to eat ice cream.” 

He can’t feel how cold the weather is anymore. It stopped bothering him between the walking and Jeno’s giggling to his stories, but the other boy insisted for him to go inside. Haechan feels like he could stand there and talk all night if it meant he could learn more about Jeno. He would even eat his soggy, melted ice cream sandwich if it meant they could spend more minutes together. When Haechan realizes he’s smiling at the thought of him, he can’t help but curse internally. He watches Jeno’s fading figure grow smaller and smaller as he walks down his street. For once, he’s regretting leaving a party. Maybe their night wouldn’t have ended so early. 

_ I got it so bad.  _ He admits to himself, still unable to remove the smile from his face. All he can do is unlock the door and go inside with a big, happy sigh. 

  
  


When a call rings from his phone, he perks up. Somehow, by the graces of the universe, he thought it might be Jeno. It’s only been minutes since they parted, but Haechan wouldn’t be aganist talking to him again. 

When he reads the caller ID, reality reminds him he was stupid enough not to exchange numbers with the pretty stranger. It may have been the biggest fumble in his life. How was he ever going to talk to him again? He lets out an exasperated groan before accepting the call, “What’s up?”

“ _ Hae, where are you? I haven’t been able to find you all night.”  _ Mark’s voice comes through somewhat muffled. He can hear the background noise filled with shouting and music. Mark must still be at the party, then. 

“I found a way home.” Haechan says shortly. He was supposed to go home with Mark, but it was probably wrong for him to impose on his… date this entire time. With him out of the way, he’ll be able to spend time with Hyeon with no worries. Maybe her wish will be fulfilled and they’ll finally go home together. 

Haechan was gagging at the thought. “So don’t worry about me. Just have fun. You know parties aren’t really my thing anyways.” He replies while entering his room. He had to make sure to put the ice cream in his freezer. He’d eat it tomorrow, just for Jeno, even though it’ll probably be disgusting. 

Mark’s silence stretched on for a minute before he decided to speak again, _ “Tell me next time! You’re my best friend, so I’m going to worry about you.”  _

Haechan doesn’t know how to respond. They are best friends. They’ll probably always be best friends… and that’s the part that hurts Haechan’s heart. He’ll forever be stuck in this cycle of getting hurt over every little thing Mark does if he doesn’t push himself to get over these feelings. If he doesn’t stop hoping for something that won’t happen. 

_ “Hey! I gotta go. Hyeon just came out of the bathroom, so I’ll call you back when the party’s over.”  _

Haechan ends the call abruptly to collapse on his bed. He should go turn on the heat to warm up his cold apartment, but he’s too consumed with his feelings to move. He would usually be upset over Mark being a dense idiot. He’s someone who doesn’t know how to read between the lines and realize his best friend is in love with him. Haechan hates all the girls he brings around and hates even more when Mark talks about them. 

But Haechan’s mind is running elsewhere. Instead of going to his best friend like usual, his mind finds the person he met tonight more interesting. Lee Jeno with his tendency to laugh at everything. Lee Jeno, the selfless and giving boy that Haechan feels like he doesn’t deserve to like, but he’s starting to. God, he makes his heart race. It took a melted ice cream sandwich for him to realize it, but Haechan understands it now. He is completely infatuated with him. 

And he didn’t even get his number. 

  
  


_ And _ his fucking vans are dirty.

  
  


_ Fuck my life, really.  _ Haechan screams into his pillow. He swears he has the worst luck in the entire universe. 

**Author's Note:**

> i may write a second part if y'all want,, but it was supposed to be an open end.  
> i love writing kind hearted jeno! <3  
> send me sum to write about: [cc](https://curiouscat.me/simigang) or say hi [here](https://twitter.com/simigang) !!  
> stay healthy <33 comment feed back if u can !


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